The Rookies – ‘Blue Christmas’ (1974)

 

The Judy Garland Christmas Show (1963)

    We’re all pretty aware at this point of the problems Judy Garland went through in her life. We’re not going to litigate them all here. I’ll just briefly sketch out what led to the television special.

    After struggling for many years to move on from her teenage roles she had intermittent success and also developed several addictions which ended up causing her health and professional problems. She bet heavily on the success of 1954’s ‘A Star is Born,’ which due to conflicts between the studio and producers ended up not turning a profit. Her live performances continued to great success but she was only fitfully successful in film and television roles. She started having money problems from mismanagement and embezzlement from her managers and eventually in 1961 started appearing in specials for CBS. This eventually lead to being paid the astronomical sum of $24 million to star in ‘The Judy Garland Show.’ Despite critical acclaim it was scheduled opposite ratings powerhouse ‘Bonanza’ and only lasted a single season.

    On December 22^nd, 1963 the twelfth episode of ‘The Judy Garland Show’ aired as a Christmas special. It was written and directed by industry variety show veterans and featured singers Jack Jones, Mel Torme, and her three children. The conceit was that the show took place at Garland’s home around Christmas time.

Yup.

    It opens with a tastefully simple title card and the camera pushing into a window as Garland sings ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ to her children Joey and Lorna Luft. It’s one unbroken shot, zooming slightly in and out as Garland emotes. It was likely standard for the time but the lack of editing is slightly jarring. After the song the camera doesn’t cut as they physically move from the window and come out the front door of the set to greet the audience at home and I’m starting to wonder if parts of this were shot and broadcast live, so far it’s hard to tell. She invites the camera in and we cut to an interior shot as she continues talking directly to the audience.

    Another edit and we’re clearly on a soundstage set now, no fourth wall anymore, as all three break into ‘Consider Yourself’ from ‘Oliver!’ For being eleven years old Lorna’s got a good set of pipes. This is Joey’s first recorded performance and yeah, he didn’t get the singing genes like Lorna and Liza. Garland clearly dotes on her children and they smile their way into the first commercial break.

Aw.

    When we come back yep, that sure is a 17 year old Liza Minnelli. Unlike Lorna and Joey this is not her first public performance, she’d been guest starring on the usual late night and variety shows for several years by this point. There’s this odd moment where she’s supposedly confused by what’s going on and Garland tells her they’re on television before pulling her into another verse of ‘Consider Yourself.’ Apparently Liza was just that good at playing confused because I was actually concerned for a moment.

Ehh ....

    Next they spotlight Joey’s performance, which seems a little cruel, as they get him to attempt to sing ‘Where is Love’ again from ‘Oliver!’ Poor kid. After that some rando named Tracy Everitt wanders in, introduced as Liza’s “beau” but who in reality is her dance partner for the upcoming number. According to IMDB he was in the same episode of the tv show ‘Talent Scouts’ as Liza earlier that year and never appeared in anything after this special, so that likely tells you all you need to know about him. Liza says they’d like to show Garland a routine they’ve worked out that maybe she could use in a show. She tosses off a joke about she’ll be Garland and Tracy can be one of those older dancers like Gene Kelly. Garland pulls a shocked face but, um, sorry, 1961, truth hurts.

Oooh.

    Liza’s entire vibe here is very Anne Hathaway and it’s a bit distracting but it’s a decent enough jazzy number about love and a steam engine and all that. I also keep getting distracted by how huge this soundstage set is, in some shots it seems to retreat into forever. Garland is suitably appreciative and the kids wander off to decorate the tree as she emotes a song to camera called ‘Little Drops of Rain.’ We’re back to having an unbroken shot of her performing and she’s really good at it, which explains the great reviews for her live shows.

    Back again from commercials and the doorbell rings to announce Jack Jones. Jones was apparently one of those early 60’s pop singers in the vein of Burt Bacharach, edging into light jazz and some bossa nova. He’s basically an example of the kind of singer that came after the crooners, so a full generation removed from the Sinatras and Comos of the world. After some chitchat Garland just directly asks him to sing ‘Lollipops and Roses’ which she’d like to but can’t since she’s a girl, and we’re moving past that at a decent clip. It’s a pretty insipid song which he at least partly sings to little Lorna, and we’re moving on again. Just, um, don’t go and look at the lyrics too carefully.

Um ....

    Lorna asks to sing ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ and again I can see how she ended up having a Broadway career of her own. The family claps at the performance and I can’t help but notice that useless Tracy is sitting in the back like a lump. He was only there for the dance number, just have him wander offstage and forget him.

    Ugh, but no, after the next break the camera swoops in to focus on Liza (having changed costumes) and Tracy in his stupid jumpsuit sitting on a couch. She starts to sing ‘Alice Blue Gown’ as he hunches over and wraps a present and congrats on the effort there, Liza, but we’re not really buying this. They wander over to the tree as she sings and she jazzes it up but nope, still a no-sell.

No.

    The three actual singers join in on ‘Jingle Bells’ and since we’re dealing with actual professional performers now it’s actually a pretty good rendition with harmonies and Liza and Garland laying a bed of background singing for Jones to sing over, it’s well done. It turns into the dreaded Christmas medley but this one’s all right since it happens in the middle of show rather than at the end just to kill time and the segues as pretty seamless and they clearly put a lot of work into it. Considering when this came out this might be what all the other specials were trying and failing to replicate.

    Sudden Santa invasion! The horns go all loud and six Santas burst in and start dancing to the apparent confusion of the family just sitting on the couch. It is preceded and justified by nothing and just as suddenly they exit out the front door. After a few moments they all get back to singing like all that never happened.

Wha?

    We come back from break, presumably still recovering from the random Santas, when we hear carolers from offstage. The kids go to investigate then yell back to Garland that they’re here. They’re invited inside and it’s revealed that they’re led by Mel Torme, who was the musical writer and arranger from the show until Garland fired him. She introduces him as such and also that he wrote the music for ‘The Christmas Song’ with Bob Wells, which he proceeds to perform accompanying himself on piano with Garland coming in to duet.

    After the commercials the carolers have spread out and made themselves at home on the cavernous set and Liza and that lump Tracy come out with eggnog and glasses for everyone. They try to make up for invading her home by launching into ‘Caroling, Caroling (Christmas Bells are Ringing)’ but I’ve got my eye on you, carolers. This is followed by another medley and I’m starting to lose increasing amounts of interest. The singers are better than I’m used to and the arrangements are tasteful and some of the renditions are impressively a capella and I just don’t care, I’m turning into an uninterested puddle in my seat, perked up briefly by Tracy dueting with Liza which shut up, Tracy. Also stop making Joey do whatever he seems to think is singing.

Sure.

    Last commercial break and they politely usher out the carolers, Jones, Liza, and finally Tracy and Garland walks back inside the house/set only to be assaulted by random Santas again. She halfheartedly plays along until they flee just as suddenly. Her demeanor is nothing but annoyance. Her two younger kids come down in pajamas and request a song and just like Crosby, Como, and Martin she apparently was contractually obligated to sing her signature tune on command as she starts singing ‘Over the Rainbow.’ I usually feel pretty bad for singers who have to trot out the standards again and again but for obvious reasons I feel it a bit more this time. The audience is into it, though, clapping like mad. Afterwards they step forward to presumably say goodnight to the studio audience so some of this was performed at least somewhat live.

Awwww.

    It’s obviously impossible for me not to view this without the knowledge of Judy Garland’s entire life history. Every ragged little edge, missed word, or interpersonal interaction could be filtered through that knowledge to paint some kind of portrait of a damaged individual doing her best to put on a show or I could try to forget all that and just appreciate the professionalism and relative class on display. In the end I’m going to just take away the memories of her talent, which was obvious and on full display. I’m not at all surprised that some of her highest accolades were from her live performances, but I can also see how anxiety could have made maintaining those accolades difficult.

    This was a special that, random dancing Santas aside, didn’t focus on sketches or skits or cheesy comedy bits but was just about the singing and performing and was very good at showing just that. I’m not particularly happy about involving her two younger children at the ages they were but comparing them to the Sinatra and Martin children Lorna at least was clearly more talented than all of them put together, and of course Liza was Liza. This is the first special that I think could hold up pretty well if it were given the proper context and aired again today, or made available on a streaming site. If you’re a fan of Judy Garland I can’t imagine you haven’t already seen this but if you haven’t by all means seek it out.